Which amharic letter should I use since there are many similar Amharic letters like ህ፣ ሕ፣ ኅ፣ ሰ፣ ሠ፣ አ፣ ዐ፣ ጸ፣ ፀ?

The Amharic script, has similar letters in sound but differ in form. A common question from learners is, “How do I know which ህ / h, ሰ / s, አ / a, or ጽ / ts’ to use?

It’s true that Amharic has several letters that pronounce the same but different shapes; they are called ሞክሼ ሆሄያት in Amharic, which means similar letters in English. And they can be confusing for learners. But you can use any type of ሀ you want. You don’t need to worry about it because there is no set of rules. There are around 6 ha; you can use anyone of them. But the most commonly used letter is ሀ.

6 types of ha in Amharic? Why?

Amharic (with Latin)
ሀ (ha)
ሃ (ha)
ሐ (ḥa)
ሓ (ḥa)
ኀ (ḫa)
ኃ (ḫa)

It is the same with other Amharic letters like ሰ፣ ሠ፣ አ፣ ዐ፣ ጸ፣ ፀ; you can use any letter you would like.

Here’s a breakdown of the letters you mentioned, along with tips on how to distinguish them and when to use each one:

ሞክሼ ሆሄያት / Similar Amharic alphabets:

1. ህ፣ ሕ & ኅ (H)

There are three types of ህ / H’s in the Amharic alphabet that have the same sound and meaning but different shapes.

Only the first ህ / h is commonly used in Amharic.

2. ሥ / ስ (s)

There are two types of ሥ / s also. They have the same sound and meaning but different shapes.

The Fidel “ስ / s” is what we commonly use. We don’t often use the “ሠ” that looks like an upside-down small m.

3. እ / ዕ (E)

The first letter “አ / A” is the most commonly used. But the second “ዐ / A” is usually used by Muslims and Tigres, because it is a throaty sound. Amharic does not have an alphabet that can be read by the throat. And the Muslims use it to represent the Arabic letter (ع).

4. ጽ & ፅ (Ts)

“ፅ (ts’i) and ጽ (ts’i) both sound like ‘ts’i’ (think of the ‘ts’ in ‘cats’, but with a slightly different emphasis). While they sound identical, there’s a traditional difference in how they’re used.

ጽ (ts’i) is generally more common and is found in many everyday words. Think of it as the ‘default’ one.

ፅ (ts’i) is less frequent and often appears in words that have roots in Ge’ez (the ancient Ethiopian language). These words are often more formal, religious, or scholarly.

4 (four) Fidels added to Amharic Fidel Gebeta:

ጵ / p “ጵ” is a Greek sound, not Amharic. The Fidel was created to represent the Greek letter “π” and its sound. Example:

The first one is “ኸ / Kh”. This Fidel is not Amharic or Geez, but it is Tigrigna. People who speak Tigrinya and Arabic use this alphabet a lot. The Fidel “ኸ / Kh” represents the Arabic letter “خ” and is widely used by Amharic speaking Muslims.

 Let’s look at the words used by Amharic-speaking Muslims.

“ፕ / p”

The letter “ፕ / P” is not Amharic either. It is an alphabet created to represent English and Italian letters. For example, the nouns “Polis, Pasta, or Vite” do not have other Amharic nouns. That’s what we call them in their original language.

We use the word “ፕ / P” to pronounce the following words:

ቭ (v) is not from the Amharic Fidel also

The letter “ቨ / V” is also a letter inherited from a foreign language.

We almost don’t use this fiddle. We use this letter only when we want to pronounce the following words. There may be other words that I don’t remember right now:

7 Difficult Amharic Letters:

If you can pronounce these six Amharic Fidel properly, then speaking Amharic won’t be difficult for you either. So that you can speak Amharic effortlessly, master these letters by practicing them over and over again.

Read The Whole Fidel Once Again.

Now read the letters from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top. After that, you will learn some basic Amharic words. Therefore, do this work well first. Read it from left to right, right to left, top to bottom, and bottom to top without getting bored. In this way, you can easily master Amharic fiddle.

If you find it difficult to pronounce all the Amharic letters correctly, contact me on Telegram: https://t.me/AmharicLanguage

Amharic Fidels in use:

Don’t try to learn all the Amharic letters at a glance so that you don’t give up too soon. Be calm and study it starting from the basics. And it doesn’t take as long as you think.